623
2 On the Quantity of Coyn in yethe Nation
Out of the 16 Millions of Silver money recconed by Mr.
P. to have been in the Nation about the year 1676 I made severall
abatements in my former paper, as 1st of a Million or a million & a half of counterfietcounterfeit
Money Mr P. (sect 8) thinks this abatement too much by far & that yethe
Counterfeit Money scarce exceeded 100000liit thus. The
five Millions melted down in yethe Exchequer proved one Ingot wthwith another about 7dwt
worse then standard. This worsness arose from false silver money
of base allay and if in the peicespieces of base allay taken one with
another one half of yethe mettal was fine silver yethe base money of base allay must
have been about yethe 15 part of yethe 5 Millions, that is about yethe third
part of a Million. There was another sort of narrow cliptfalse money made of stlittle clipt money little clipt money. They made it of of clippings and broad money without allay and this being of
standard silver, past as Current as if it had been Coyned in yethe Kings Mint
& for ytthat reason abounded most in yethe Coyn. I reccon it therefore at above
a million The Brass money being most discernable was least in
Quantity. iIf it be recconed 1 ꝑper Cent of the whole, it will amount
to about 75000li so that all the Counterfeit money in these five Millions
amounted to about 900000li And if all yethe Counterfeit Money in the
other five Millions Recoyned was but one third part as much, the
whole will amount to above 1200000li.
2dly I abated 500000li for the wearing of yethe money & 3dly
3 or 400000li for yethe clipping thereof and the abatements were
proportionable to what I had observed in some parcels of broad
hammered money wchwhich had been long hoarded in the Country most
of it unclipt & yethe rest not so much clipt but about 25 or 30 years ago it
might be very possible in payments the clipping scarce appearing
to yethe Eye without weighing the peicespieces. The Mr P. makes the like abatements to be made in my Computation
for the wearing culling washing & filing of yethe Milled money. But this could not amount
to 1 ꝑper Cent & & so are not worth mentioningin all the milled money (new & old together & so is considerable, whereas the wear of the hammered money was about 65 ꝑper cent, & clipping almost as much.
4thly out of yethe milled money wchwhich in 1676 he reccons at 3 millions
I abated above a Million. For Guineas began to be Coyned at 44 to
the pound weight in Apr: 1 1663 the Kings Warrant for Coyning Milled money of Gold & silver, wthwith four distinct Escutcheons on the Reverse was dated in April 1663 & from that time to yethe end of
December 1676 there was coyned in silver by the Mint accompts
1779277li 19s. 6d. whereof about 220000li was out of Cross and
Harp Money Out of yethe 3 Millions I should have abated therefore above 1200000li.or In ste the money for Dunkirk
In stead of 3 Millions therefore he should have recconed only 1779277li. 19s. 6d, so ytthat I had reason to about above a million out of his recconing
5thly out of the 3 Millions recconed to be melted
down out of ytthat hammered money after after yethe years 1676, I make
another great abatement of two Millions and an half. Mr P. (sect. 7) replies that his assertion as to those 3 Millions was grounded upon informations taken from men that were Apprentices or Servants to Goldsmiths and Refiners they owning that after the year 1670 they found above of the old Coyn fitter for their purpose then the new milled money I answer that they that culled for Melting culled also for clipping the clippings being as fit for Melting as the weighty money and that they might frequently find a third part of the hammered Money fit for both these purposes together and more fit then the Milled money was, that being unfit for the Clippers Trade. But if the men above mentioned affirmed that aboutafter the year 16756 or soon after ytthat they found one third part of the hammered money weightier then the Milled Money was & on that account fitter to be culled for melting, there mustseems to be some mistake in the testimony. For the hammered shillings had one wthwith another lost aboutve 5 graines apeiceapiece by wearing as I found by weighing some parcells of unclipt shillings. These were therefore grown too light to be so fit for the cullers Trade as ytthat Milled Money generally was and the Sixpences were more worn in proportion to their weight and ytthat smaller Money still more. All the Money of Q.Queen Eliz and almost all ytthat of K.King IJames yethe I and half that of KKing Cha. I was in shillings and sixpences and smaller money and so not fit for Culling to yethe Melting Pott The half Crowns were scarce a third part of all yethe hammrered Money and therefore in the year 1676 scarce Exceeded 4 Millions. oOf these 4 Millions part were hoarded in yethe Country and since the year 1676 and Came not to the cullers hands, part were clipt either before 1676 or afterwards and part were culled for Melting before the year 1676, and the rest had one with another lost 67 or 8 grains a piece by wearing so that scarce one in tenn was so weighty as the milled half Crowns but if we should allow one in five to have been so weighty yet they would scarce amount to half a Million.
I do not see therefore but that yethe abatements wchwhich I made
out of Mr P's recconing of 16 Millions were reasonable, so
that instead of supposing that about yethe year 1676 we had
16 millions of silver monies I had rather reccon that we have not then above 10 or 11 Millions and that in the year 1689
when we were richest we had but about 12 Millions of
those monies not in tale but in weight and fineness.
In my Recconing how much silver money we have
remainingsremainisng now in the Nation at present I said that we have
about a Million of old milled money or not much less Mr
P. (sect 9) thinks that we have not half so much. His reasons are
the great ConsumtionConsumption there was of that Coyn after 76 & the
small appearance of it in the time of the Recoynage or since.
This is a generall way of arguing without coming to a recconing
and so is of less force then yethe recconing wchwhich I went upon. For
that we have a Million or not much less, I gathered by theMy recconing was grounded upon the appearance of this money which toI did met with in payments. For by examining the
Proportion of the old milled money to the new in a parcell or
two., For I had found the old about an eight or ninth part of the
whole. And since the writing of my former paper I examined
the proportion againe in a Parcell of 25lib of silver monies
brought to me from the Bank of England & I found in it 3li
1s. 6d of old milled money.If there has been recoyned
6900000li and yethe old milled mixed therewith be now
about an Eight part of the whole then that old milled
money at its first mixing with the new must have been about
980000li.wchwhich is about an 8th part of the whole. And in another parcel I found it above a sixt part of the whole. Now if we reccon (in round numbers) thereatt there were about seven millions recoyned & that the old milled money mixed therewith is an eitighth part of the whole then that old milled mo money at its first mxingmixing with the new must have been about a million
Mr. P sect 9) says that if we have so much old milled money
it ought to be added to yethe Computation of yethe 16 millions. I
answered that in yethe computation of yethe 16 millions Mr P. in his first paper recconed
3 Millions of old milled money, wchwhich (as I have shewed) was too much by above a
Million, & therefore ought not now to be encreased.
So then I see no reason to alter my recconing of
7 Millions of Silver monies (milled & hammered) still in
the Nation for I do not yet see any reason to believe that the monies melted down or Exported since yethe recoynage amount to above 1500000li
What is said by Mr P. (sect 10) to diminish my accompt of the
Guinea has been considered above where I shewed that there has been not onely a large Coynage but also a large increase of our stock. In my former paper I made an abatement of an eight
part
part of the whole for yethe weighty Guineas culler out and brought back
to the mint and if that abatement should be doubled it would
not very much diminish my recconing, Especially if yethe Guineas
coyned the last 14 months year wchwhich in my former paper I did not reccon and yethe forreign gold monies wchwhich of
late by the overballance of trade have plentifully flowed into England
and still continued to do so, be added to it. And after the culling and
recoyning of the weighty Guineas has been allowed for it for ought
to be objected no more, unless it cane be proved that the allowance
is too little.
If in the dead months of Exportation Merchants have
have sometimes Coyned their bullion twas surely not wthwith intention to
export yethe Same in moneymelt down the money afterwards & export it Contrary to Law but wthwith the Money to buy
new forreign Bullion when the time for exportation should approach and therefore such Coynage made addition to or stock.
If any Gold hath been bought wthwith yethe clippings of silver monies melted down into Ingotts & Exported as Mr P. sec 9 thinks probable: the Gold is an addition to orour stock of GoldGuineas and yethe silver exported is allowed for in my former paper in the 5 millions wast lost out of the silver monies
And the like is to be said of sigolvder brought in by Forreigners to get by loads upon Publick funds as Mr P represents sect 10 &c for since the year 1694 we have paid our Forreigne debts in any thing butrather then gold And those debts wchwhich now remaine unpaid are not to be considered in recconing the Quantity of moneys now in the Nation but mustare to be accounted for in the Course of Exchange & ballance of trade wchwhich at prresent is on our side., & yet must be deducted from orour wealth & may entitle forreigner to above a million or two of orour money a considerable quantitysome part of orour money.
All wchwhich being considered I do not see but that the
recconings set down in my former paper come near the truth
vizt that in the year 1689 when we were richest we had about
12 millions in silver monies (not in tale but standard value) and
about 5 millions in Guineas & Pistoles, in all about 18 Millions
besides broad Gold. And at present we have about 7 millions in
Silver monies milled and hammered and about 8 Millions in
Guineas & Pistoles besides broad Gold in all we have about 15
millions which is about 2 Millions less then in the year 1689 & about a milliona considerable quantity of wchwhich may belong to forreigners by reason of their stocks in orour publick funds.. In makeing this
Estimate I do not pretend to be exact. Where I could meet with exact
recconings I followed them and in the rest I used yethe best of my judgment